I'm mostly loving Bring Up the Bodies, but the tense it distracting me a bit. So far I generally prefer the way she portrays the characters the best though. I'm really glad that I'm reading pretty soon after The Other Boleyn Girl because it makes it that much better.

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

Finished The Richard Burton Diaries. Much as I enjoyed much of it, and really enjoyed his exceptionally fine writing, as a book/experience it kind of falls flat at the end--if only because RB starts writing shorter snippets and covers only cursory reportage of his day when he's surely at his best telling stories and describing people and really getting into it--including easily the most eloquent skewering rant I've ever read in my life (on Lucille Ball). That's when reading the diary is most enjoyable. His knowledge of English literature, too, is truly remarkable. Quotes from varied sources from all over the place, all over the scope of modern and olde English, he's clearly a voracious reader and lists everything he's reading. There's incredible store of quotes in them and he just spins them out--paraphrased by him but often very close to verbatim of the original text and you know he's pulling it out of his head not referencing anything for the sake of his diary.

I found the editor's footnotes too earnest. Like the editor wanted to cover every little thing to the point of intrusion and then I'd have a question about something and that never got footnoted, sort of thing. Also, he'd put the footnote numeral at the end of the sentence where I like to have it at the questionable point of the sentence, whereever that may be, for greater clarity. You get lost in a digression by the end of a sentence, have to backtrack to the earlier thought to wonder about and...yeah. Footnote the precise point, please, editors. I don't care if it's not proper MLA (or whatever it's called--I know fuckall about MLA) it needs to happen the way I say. I feel like it was a style choice because I've never had this specific complaint about footnoting before so other folks must do it, this editor chose not to. To CONFUZZLE ME.

I just finished reading The Poet and the Murderer. It wasn't as exciting as it sounds, not even the murder part. It's the true story of a convicted murderer and master forger who forged an Emily Dickinson poem (before he went to prison) that went on to be sold as authentic by Sotheby's. That's all in the blurb on the back, so no spoilers. And that's pretty much how the book starts. It's almost like the author starts with the ending and then works his way back, so it feels a bit disjointed.

I might read the last of the Call the Midwife trilogy, then move on to another true crime novel.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 5:36 pmPosts: 1692Location: the land of too much wine and wind

Sarah-Jane wrote:

Just started Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" today. I am only 2 chapters in and I am finding it really sad in a lovely, nostalgic way. I can't think of a better way to describe it yet.

I read the first half or so on a plane a couple days ago. I got my copy as soon as it came out, but I've been waiting until I was in the right mood and had the time to properly devote my attention. I agree wholeheartedly. It's bringing up a lot of memories of childhood. Not so much distinct memories, more how it felt to be 7 and how you experience the world at that age.

I'm eager to finish it, but I can also tell that it's the kind of book that I'll revisit on the regular. I read a post on Gaiman's Tumblr that said it wasn't necessarily for any age group, but that it was for readers. Totally. Definitely. Yes.

Also, Amanda Palmer wrote a really lovely review. I read it when it was first posted, but I am waiting to reread it until after I finish the book.

_________________I just brought out the carrot sticks. This is war. - paprikapapaya

I've just been to the library and have 6 new books ready to start. Can't decide which one to read first... possibly 'Where'd You Go, Bernardette' by Maria Semple.

I listened to this when it was serialised on the radio and really, really enjoyed it.

I've just finished it, it was a terrific read - the characters were really well drawn and the writing was very sharp and witty. I suspect a lot of the jokes were at the expense of Seattle, so some references probably went over my very British head, but I absolutely loved the book.

Just started Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" today. I am only 2 chapters in and I am finding it really sad in a lovely, nostalgic way. I can't think of a better way to describe it yet.

I read the first half or so on a plane a couple days ago. I got my copy as soon as it came out, but I've been waiting until I was in the right mood and had the time to properly devote my attention. I agree wholeheartedly. It's bringing up a lot of memories of childhood. Not so much distinct memories, more how it felt to be 7 and how you experience the world at that age.

I'm eager to finish it, but I can also tell that it's the kind of book that I'll revisit on the regular. I read a post on Gaiman's Tumblr that said it wasn't necessarily for any age group, but that it was for readers. Totally. Definitely. Yes.

Also, Amanda Palmer wrote a really lovely review. I read it when it was first posted, but I am waiting to reread it until after I finish the book.

I loved that review so much. I am not really a "celebrity person" but I follow Neil and Amanda on twitter and I love what I see of their relationship, they seem so cute and in love.

I'm reading the Ava Gardner book. It's kind of annoying though. The writer (this book is about the book he was preparing in the late 1980s to ghostwrite for Ava that was never written and he's essentially shaped that negotiation as his story around her private revelations during the course of their conversation for said unwritten book). So, anyway, he keeps consulting these men Ava knows (i.e., Dirk Bogarde Peter Something--Viertel, maybe) and they're all "she's a maneater, she'll eat you alive and spit you out." She exudes sex, blahblahblah. She'll come on to you. Just wait, it's comin'. Yadda yadda. I have seen no maneating or spittin as yet--but it's a constant threat, apparently. Also, AG's coming across as a sad, lonely woman who drinks far too much, swears profusely and continually calls her ghostwriter at 3:00 a.m. and asks him if she disturbs his sleep "clink of bottle against glass, click of a cigarette lighter, etc". I don't know, I need a different perspective, maybe? That may have been his experience it's just the whole focus on her sexuality/sensuality/maneating references and then the truth of this sad, lonely woman near the end of her life who has no sexual interest in this guy whatsover--she just wants him to write her bloody book. Yeah, I dunno. It's interesting when the author lets her speak though and drops the stuff where he's basically waiting for her seventy-year-old self to jump his bones. This is my problem (sometimes) with male authors writing about women. Most are able to remain totally impartial and do it well and kudos to them--but I see, on the other hand like here, this distraction where an ego needs some sort of stroking or affirmation that rises above the subject matter. Dude, I did not borrow this book to hear about your blue ball expectations.

I saw this in a bio I read about Greta Garbo a while back. I couldn't even tell you who wrote it because it was so uninformative, I don't care. It was a 300+ page sexual fantasy, basically--and an excruciatingly boring one at that--with some token biographical information thrown in and no insight on his subject whatsoever.

I call this phenomenon the phallic eclipse--where the subject matter becomes secondary to the author's peen.

Finished Christian Nation, and while I thought it was very compelling and frightening—theocracy is one of those scenarios that instantly gets my heart pounding—as a novel, it wasn't much. It was mostly flashback and almost dispassionate.

Just finished Bring Up the Bodies, and I really enjoyed it. The tense thing still bothered me, but I don't know. I just zipped through this one and liked it. Not sure what's up next.

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

I finished The Killer of Little Shepherds last night. It was so good. It brought up a lot of topics beyond just this particular killing spree - the history of forensics, the morality of the death penalty (and specific methods), what constitutes insanity (for the purposes of law) and how it's determined. It was all really fascinating.

I'm now reading Blood Meridian. So far I'm liking it, which I expected.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I finished The Killer of Little Shepherds last night. It was so good. It brought up a lot of topics beyond just this particular killing spree - the history of forensics, the morality of the death penalty (and specific methods), what constitutes insanity (for the purposes of law) and how it's determined. It was all really fascinating.

that sounds really interesting. Reminds me of "The Alienist" and the development of forensic psychology.